A BN component party leader said the coalition is standing behind Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak despite several controversies plaguing him due to what BN leaders learnt when they served under former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"If we stand by Najib, who is our current prime minister, it is because we learnt it the hard way from Tun," MyPPP president M Kayveas said in a blog posting today.

Kayveas noted that BN leaders had stood behind Mahathir while he was prime minister but all those who opposed him were removed.

"Who does not know what Tun would and indeed did to those who crossed his path.

"History has a clear record of how every potential leader who could have continued the journey wearing the hat of premiership fell.

"Ghafar Baba, Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Anwar Ibrahim and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi - these men were the casualties of our Tun's grip on power," he said.

Calling Mahathir's rule dictatorial, Kayveas said BN leaders stood by Mahathir for 22 years through thick and thin.

"But today, when he keeps hammering out statements and writings that do not speak well of true statesmanship as he guns Najib, Tun should be mindful of two truths.

"One, he has betrayed all of us who stood by him throughout his 22 long years as prime minister.

"Two, Tun must know he is not by virtue of his dictatorial rule, the ultimate king maker for the rakyat," he said.

Bitten and beaten man at war

Kayveas said while Mahathir had earned his dignity and reputation as a statesman, he must also be able to maintain this.

"Sadly, that is not what we witness of the Tun.

"Today his language and words and actions clearly show a bitten and beaten man at war," he said.

Kayveas also stressed that Najib was not like Mahathir, or there would have been a crackdown such as the one that happened during the latter's tenure.

"Fortunately for Tun and his blinded loyalists, Najib does not practice any traits of Machiavellian politics.

"Otherwise the price that would have to be paid by some would probably be in the likes of that unforgettable Ops Lalang," he said.